The Boy Number 5
by Kagari Seven
Summary: The interconnecting lives of flower shop owner Yamanaka Ino, and Uchiha Sasuke, an ace in the escort service. Sasuke/Ino
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

**A/N:** I have purposely altered the characters' personalities and whichever you may find different in this fic. Comments and reviews are welcome. Good or bad comments are encouraging in a way. This is rated M for a reason, so little kids, keep out ;)

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**THE BOY NUMBER 5**

-0-

_**Prologue**_

-0-

_Dusk had arrived in the small town of Hagi. One by one the shops closed and the street lamps were illuminated. The quiet and peaceful village was located beside the hillsides, and one part of the town was beside a coastal port._

_There was an orphanage and a tiny chapel by the hillside, named St. Jerome Emiliani Chapel. It was made with old bricks and oaks, and could fit a maximum of a hundred people. _

_Shizune, a short-haired brunette lady in her early thirties, was closing the window chapels one by one. The rain was starting to pour and the wind was getting cold. She was a caretaker of both the chapel and the orphanage next to it and it was her everyday duty to make sure all the doors, windows and locks were secured._

_She held the hems of her dark gray robes more securely in front of her as she felt the gush of wind blew against her face when she pulled in the handle and closed the last of the windows. She was about to walk to the back door when she suddenly heard a baby's cry inside the chapel._

_She stopped on her tracks and looked around. Nobody was there except for her and Father Onoki, who was busy closing the cabinets at the back in another room. She didn't see anyone else present when she entered earlier to lock the place._

_The baby's cry echoed and she moved around the empty pews to look for it. She saw a bundle of dark blue cloth on the floor, in front of the very first pew near the altar. She saw movements inside the thick cloth and hurriedly approached. There, inside the thick folds of fabric was a baby having a toothless wail, its cheeks flushing. There was a little mop of jet black hair on top of its head. Its skin was smooth and unblemished._

_Shizune cautiously took the toddler in her arms. The thick linen was big and long, as if whoever wrapped it around the baby made certain it would keep it warm for a given time. And the little creature was indeed warm when she touched its cheek. And it just bawled loudly inside the parish._

"_Oh my, look at you." Shizune said in distress. She didn't see anyone else or notice anything else when she walked in several minutes ago to put out the candles one by one. "Where did you come from?" She grunted mostly to herself._

_She looked around her and all she saw were the empty lines of pews and the closed entry. _

"_Father Onoki!" She called. "Father Onoki come here quick, please!"_

_She heard the light footsteps after a few seconds and a small old man in black robes walked in. He was short, not even reaching five feet in height, and his balding hair was a mix of brown and white strands. He has a wrinkled face and his nose was red, with some warts growing on its surface. Sometimes little kids teases him as rotten-tomato nose, which would earn them a slap on the head from the old priest._

"_What're ye yelling about?" he snapped, the back of his robes swaying behind him as he strode. His petite figure and long robes sometimes makes him appear to be walking on air._

_He heard the cries and saw the bundle in Shizune's arms. His brown eyes rounded._

"_Somebody left a baby here." Shizune said. A hint of concern and sadness were there on her voice._

_Onoki frowned and stood beside her. She had to lower the bundle in her arms for him to see. All he saw were pinkish gums as the baby wailed again._

"_Another abandoned infant." He puffed out, putting his fingers against his coiled forehead._

_It wasn't the first time a child had appeared at the neigborhood. After all, he and Shizune looks after the old foster house and the chapel in that tiny town. But it was the first time an infant was left inside the chapel. There were two incidents when they found young kids abandoned at the door step of the orphanage before, but not one inside the parish. And most of the children they took in were old enough to be walking, and not as young and helpless as this._

"_Ssshhh… It's okay. We're here. You must be cold and hungry, aren't you?" Shizune talked sweetly to the infant, rocking it carefully in her arms. The infant went quiet for a moment, staring at her with round, teary-eyed, dark brown pupils. "It's a boy." She said, before it went into another fit of yowls._

"_A lucky boy, still. He'd been found before the place got locked up." Onoki grunted as he gave one look at the bundle before walking towards the back where he just came from. "Get the little twert something to eat before it starts to make the ceilings collapse. I'll ask around the neighborhood first thing tomorrow about his parents."_

_Shizune turned off the last light before following the aged priest out towards the back, which connected the parish and the foster house next to it._

-0-

_The infant was never claimed. And a few years later, he was one of the brightest child in the foster home. He was quiet at first, most of the time observing his surroundings and studying the people and the materials around him._

_The parish priest named him Uchiha Sasuke. Where or from what on earth did he based it from, he didn't know. The senior priest just simply stated that the name sounded exactly like him. _

_His features became distinctive as he grew. He had short jet black hair and a sprinkle of bangs on his forehead. His eyes has this piercing stare which the older kids would find intimidating at times._

_The St. Jerome Emiliani Foster Home supplies handicrafts and potteries to a variety of shops in towns near Hagi. This would contribute to the expenses of the foster care. Most of the supplies were made by the orphans or retired citizens, and Sasuke was introduced to this art as early as age four. And he was good at it. By the time he was seven, he was making a number of paper umbrellas a week, painted and structured by him. He would decorate them with abstract paintings, sometimes pandas or wolves or planes. It didn't take long and his works became one of the pieces which would get sold first. It was because of this which was why Shizune gives him his fair share of profits. Just small coins he would save for himself. The orphanage didn't require the children to work, but it had became their hobbies since the house didn't have any television to entertain them._

_He was a curious boy. And his curiosity would often get the better of him, resulting for him to sneak out and go over the wooden fences of the house and would roam the streets from time to time, meddling with the array of things and ways in that small town. He wouldn't normally talk to strangers, but if he becomes interested in a person or a thing, he would approach them. And this would make Shizune go ballistic. _

"_You shouldn't be going out of the house especially at this time of the day!" Shizune yelled at him when he came home late one night. She and the other caretakers weren't even aware he was gone. "What're we going to do if something happens to you?"_

"_I saw a puppy." Sasuke said in his tiny, childish voice._

_Some of the children in the foster home would sneak out and never return, but Sasuke would always make it a point to return somehow, no matter what time or day it was. Some children in the house would even steal before completely leaving and running away. Sasuke, on the other hand, never steals. Well, sure, he would knick a bread or two in the kitchen if he gets hungry but that was as far as he'd go. _

_The elders in the house knew he was a smart boy. If he was new at something, he would observe silently at first, before imitating what the others were doing. Or sometimes he would develop his own way of doing things._

_Uchiha Sasuke had a thirst to see the world. _

_He was thrilled during his first day in school, finally out of the house the whole day to see new things, while a few of his classmates were crying at the door, asking their otou-san or okaa-san to stay. Clearly, some of them were not used to be left alone. Sasuke, by all means, was glad to be alone. He had been with different kids as early as he could remember. A lot of them left, some stayed. He even had brawls on occasions and it would end with a bleeding nose or somebody's toy broken._

_As a boy, he had never really gotten interested in finding his biological parents, unlike a lot of orphans he'd met. He had thought about them when he was younger, but it eventually passed. He figured they didn't truly wanted him nor care about him after leaving him abandoned in a parish, just like what Onoki had honestly admitted to him when he asked. He didn't dwell on this matter as much as others and merely decided he didn't care about them either. And this lack of guardians had lead to some students taunting him about his background._

_As a boy who grew up under the guidance of a priest and a kind lady, one would think that he was pretty much a nice, behaved boy. But that was not the case with Sasuke._

_As the years passed, the elders had eventually labeled him a rascal. He wanted to experiment with various things, inside and outside of classes. He didn't actually care about what was right or wrong. He wanted to see and realize it for himself, not what others would say which was which. He was a topnotch in some of the classes, but he didn't entirely devoted his time in studying nor heeding the advices of his mentors. He would pretend to listen when he was being lectured, then move on to do something else afterwards. He tried to juggle both studying and social ventures, but it grew dull and boring to him sooner or later when he hit high school._

_By the time he became a teenager, he was one of the delinquents in the local school. He had been involved with fist fights and wasn't attending some of his classes anymore. _

_He could've been an ace student if he had chosen to, but he became curious about other matters. He tried vices: alcohol, smoking, gambling—all illegal for minors. Onoki and Shizune noticed the changes in his behaviors but he had grown to be stubborn and hard-headed. Their words and discipline weren't enough for a teenager who wanted to try and understand things._

_He was growing taller and his body was getting bigger and leaner. His features became more distinctive and his face turned more handsome as he grew: with those thick eyebrows that were carved in the right angles above his piercing brown eyes; his straight nose; his smooth, clear complexion._

_These looks added fuel to his unpredictable character._

_He was ten when he first started noticing the girls in the school. They would approach him and befriend him. He didn't see any problems with it at first, until he became aware of his physical urges when he hit his adolescence. And it didn't take long for him to know what would make them and the females tick._

_Ultimately, he figured out it wasn't hard for him to get the girls. They seemed to be drawn to him naturally. They would flutter their eye-lashes and giggle with him every time he was around. He would talk to a girl he likes. Get to know her and walk her home. Then he'd steal a kiss or two. After that, it was up to both of them whatever else they'd like to do in the days that came. _

_One by one, he captured the heart of girls he likes in the class, before moving on to the other batches. He started trying things out with them. Both emotionally and physically. And one by one, his innocence wavered away._

_His popularity (both good and bad) in the school had soon caught the attention of the senior students. It was like a blow in the ego to know that a junior was causing a stir with the female students and the instructors, and they were provoked by this. It was not unusual for a student, especially the nerds, to get beaten up by a gang of seniors in that area. There were days when Sasuke would see a student lying almost unmoving on the ground with blood stains all over his face. _

_The taunting Sasuke had been receiving started during his first month in the institute, when he was in first grade. His classmates mocked him of having no parents. There were events and meetings in the school where a parent was required to attend, and Shizune wasn't able to attend on some because of her busy duties in the orphanage. Thus, Sasuke was left with nobody during these occasions. The absence of parents in his life lead the student to mock him about his abandonment and him being unwanted. He ignored these remarks and simply paid attention to the things that entertained him, like biology or history or a possession he had been saving to buy. The mockeries mostly stopped when he began to mature._

_And when he was growing up, he learned that the bullying was a huge factor in the institute and the school staff always had a hard time controlling it. The victims won't even say something to their guardians, too scared that the gangs would be back for a second time._

_And it didn't take long when the senior boys finally landed their eyes on Sasuke. He was walking along a corridor one afternoon when he saw a big, chubby, freckle-faced boy with orange hair striding towards him from the other end. There were two tall boys behind him and they were all eyeing him with sly sneers._

"_Look it here. If it isn't pretty boy of the second years." The chubby one drawled as they came close._

_They stood in front of Sasuke, blocking his way. They were several inches taller than him._

"_Move out of the way." Sasuke said, his voice whole and firm. His cold stare was something he reserves for people he dislikes or doesn't give a damn about._

"_What makes you think you run this place, huh, pretty boy?"_

"_I saw him with my girlfriend yesterday. I bet you enjoyed her, didn't you? You piece of shit." The tall, skinny guy behind the chubby one uttered through cleched teeth. He gazed at him with a menacing stare and his fists coiled on his sides._

"_Well, your girlfriend clearly forgot you exist." Sasuke said in a stony face._

"_You fucking bastard—"_

_The tall one zoomed his fist at him and he stepped aside, making the attacker stumble on the floor. The chubby one threw the next punch and Sasuke instantly pinned him against the wall after avoiding his hit. The other senior entangled his arm around his neck from behind him, and Sasuke hastily kicked with both legs against the belly of the chubby student. He and his strangler hit the opposite wall, with the senior's back slamming against the concrete surface, loosening his hold around his neck. _

_He was about to get away when he felt an arm tugged the sleeve of his uniform. The tall senior aimed for his cheek but Sasuke blocked it with his folded arm, shielding the side of his face. His blow landed against his arm, instead. Sasuke hastily swung and his knuckles crashed against the senior's jaw. He fell backwards._

"_Quick, hit him on the head!"_

_The pig-faced senior grabbed him and Sasuke elbowed him hard, smashing his nose which spurted out blood. He pushed him off and dashed out of the corridor in a speed not many young men were capable of, leaving the three students cursing him as they clutched their sore limbs._

-0-

_Sasuke looked down at his reddening knuckles as he walked home that day. The sunset sky glowed orange and violet above him. His backpack hung on his back._

_He had been getting into multiple fights lately and his hands were starting to hurt. His face was free of any scratches for now, yet he didn't know up to what extent he could keep this up. The caretakers won't like it if he'd come home with some bruises on his face again. He'd still be crafting some lanterns and paper umbrellas later that night and he couldn't do it properly with sore hands._

_He was passing by an empty street on the way home. There were old houses on both sides of the street and the shops were closing. It was his daily route from school to the foster house. _

_He couldn't help but think of doing something else when he grows older. Even when he was just seven years old, he had already thought about going some place else. He didn't want to grow old in that small town. He knew there was a big world out there. He read it in old books and magazines he'd find in the old cabinets at the orphanage._

_He saw movements ahead of him and found four older boys at the end of the street. Two other males appeared out of the alley and stood next to the four. All six of them were big and tall and were wearing the same uniforms as his._

_Sasuke recognized the three at once. They were the ones who cornered him earlier that day. The chubby moron had a pair of cottons plugged in his nostrils now. He knew they were waiting for him. And they called some back ups to cover for them. _

_Sasuke stopped on his tracks and surveyed along the houses and alleys around him. Then, in a quick jolt, he bolted out of the street and through an alley between the houses._

"_Hey—come back here, you bastard!" One of the seniors shouted angrily._

"_Don't let him get away!"_

_Sasuke swiftly dashed through the gaps between the houses. He has always been fast and he excels in sports class. He pushed his way through the trees and crossed a tiny footbridge towards another village. His chasers were not far and he could hear the noises they were making as they pushed a few people out of the way. He heard the tumbles of plastic containers and screeches of the passers by behind him but he didn't look back._

_He turned a corner and suddenly saw a little girl before him. He abruptly stopped his tracks to avoid colliding with her and he was sent rolling down on the ground. He felt the rough surface scratched his knees and arms. The little girl squeaked in surprise and stared at him with big eyes. Her mother saw them and she hurriedly pulled the child away, disappearing from view._

_Sasuke groaned. He felt the scratches stung as he got up._

_The seniors caught him there and they sniggered darkly when he was cornered._

"_Who do you think you are, you little son of a—"_

_Sasuke's fist hit one of the boy's face openly. And then, the six of them seized him furiously from all sides. He kicked one hard on the gut and punched the pig-faced once again on the nose, who screamed as he stumbled, holding his bleeding nasal. One of the seniors held his arms back and he violently kicked another one who was trying to grab his neck._

_He felt a jab against his gut and the biggest senior who was holding him let him go. He saw the four others trying to get up as the two of them landed punches and kicks around his body. Sasuke had never been ganged up by six large guys before, and he knew he was losing. He was outnumbered and they were bigger._

_The pounds kept pouring in and he shielded his head with his arms. He was being beaten up and he wished he'd just die than to give them the satisfaction._

"_Isn't that very manly. A bunch of big dopes ganging up on a young fellow." A man's voice sounded far behind them._

_The beating stopped and the seniors turned around to see three men standing several feet away from them. Sasuke held his throbbing arms away from his face and saw two young guys and an elderly man standing and watching them. One of the young men has a silver, thick, spiky hair and a black mask which concealed almost his whole face, except for a single dark eye, which gazed at them in a dull way. He was wearing a dark green jacket. The guy beside him had short, light brown hair and was wearing a black shirt. Both of them appeared to be six or seven years older than him._

_An older man stood behind the two. His bushy, silver hair has a portion of it extended down along his nape like a tail, which swayed behind him with the wind. He was donned in a maroon robe and he was wearing a geta footwear. He looked to be in his late forties. His thick arms folded in front of him._

"_This is none of your goddamn business." One of the seniors spat._

_They were about to turn back to Sasuke when the two young strangers moved in swift motions and attacked them, sending them falling down the ground one by one. Sasuke heard shouts and cries and he saw them trying to attack the pair. But they were fast, and they landed their strikes straight to the sides of their heads, knocking them down. The older man behind them only watched with a placid face as his two apprentices took down each of the big students._

_By the time the last senior collapsed down with a groan, clutching his stomach, Sasuke had sat up and watched the young pair moved back next to the older man. There was something different about them, Sasuke noticed as he gazed at them. They had a different aura from the people he had met before, and they emanated this silent confidence from the way they stood straight and move in finesse._

_He appraised their features and knew the three of them weren't from that area. He had never seen them before. And judging by the clothes and fabrics they were wearing, they were perhaps travelers who were just passing through the town._

"_You better go home now, kid." The older man said before they turned around to leave the scene. The two young males gave one look at Sasuke before following him. They didn't speak one word._

_Sasuke hastily stood up and spat blood on the ground. His lower lip was bleeding and he felt aches everywhere, but he didn't give much thought about it._

"_Wait." He called as he stood up on his feet._

_The three strangers turned back to him. _

"_Who are you?" he asked._

"_That's not important." The older man answered. They were about to leave again when Sasuke continued._

"_It is to me." He said, standing straight despite the pain he was feeling in his limbs._

_The older man in red robes halted and stared at him for a few seconds. "The names's Jiraiya, kid." He grunted. "And this is Kakashi and Yamato." He motioned to the two younger fellows next to him. They both nodded at him._

_Sasuke looked at the moaning figures of the beaten six large boys around him. "I've never seen anyone fight that way before." He said, turning his gaze back at the three strangers. "Teach me how you did it."_

"_It's not something we learn to pick fights. It's a way to defend yourself." The fellow with silver hair, Kakashi, spoke in an easy-going voice._

"_I want to learn it." Sasuke said._

"_You already look tough for your age, kid. I saw you beat those four guys earlier before the rest of them finally got a hold of you." Jiraiya spoke. "Not everyone in your age can do that. A lot of them couldn't even take one down."_

"_Apparently, that wasn't good enough."_

_There was drive in his voice and attitude, Jiraiya noticed. He also saw the burning flame behind the teenager's onyx eyes. _

"_What's your name?" Jiraiya asked._

"_Sasuke."_

"_Hm." Jiraiya seemed to think for a moment. "Sasuke, even if I want to teach you, we won't have enough time. We'll be out of here within the day, you see."_

"_Where're you going?" Sasuke asked curiously, brushing the trickling blood off his lip with the back of his hand again. The fat senior boy took hold of his ankle weakly and he kicked him off._

"_Let's just say our job requires us to go from place to place. Maybe someday we'll settle somewhere, but that's like a shot to the moon. Kinda hard to say and plan." Jiraiya replied._

"_Then take me with you." Sasuke stated._

_This held Jiraiya a little taken aback. "You want to come with us, kid?"_

_Sasuke felt something unusual with them. They didn't look threatening at first glance, but they were strong men and he could feel a certain edgy boldness radiating from the way they carried themselves, unlike something he had ever seen in anyone before. They had these free spirits within them, as if they go wherever the wind takes them. And he wanted that feeling. He never had someone to guide him all his life, and he found them to be the most interesting trio he had ever met in his whole bland life in that little town. He wanted to see what they did for a living. And that sudden urge made him willing to trade everything he had at that moment, just to have that freedom._

"_You're what—fifteen? Sixteen? We lead a lifestyle not suitable for minors, boy. It's not something I recommend to youngsters, either. And taking a minor without consent is kidnapping, if you haven't heard." Jiraiya muttered, scratching the top of his head._

"_That's not necessary. I'm an orphan." Sasuke said in an even voice. "I have no one."_

_Jiraiya looked at him for a long moment. He saw in his eyes that the boy was telling the truth. He was actually not the first one who had asked to come with them in his years of travel. _

"_You're not the only one, kid." He grunted, turning his wooden, clogged slippers around as he moved back toward the main streets, leaving the site. _

_Yamato followed him while Kakashi stood frozen at the spot, watching Sasuke. The breeze ran through the neighborhood, causing the fallen leaves to whisk around._

"_We have no one and we came from nothing. Your state is no different from ours." Kakashi spoke behind his mask._

_He turned around and started to leave, too. Then stopped after taking a few steps._

_He looked sideways at him._

"_If you really want to go down this path, you can find us near the riverside at the border before nightfall. But I must warn you, this path is not for the virtuous nor for the morals. Therefore, you have no right to expect anything." He murmured, before walking away and vanishing from sight._

_Sasuke stared at the alley even after they had gone, left to be the only one standing there with a bruised face as the others twitched in pain around him._

_And that night, when he got home, he left a plentiful of his money savings on the table in Onoki's old office with a short farewell note. He took a couple of clothes, snuck out and didn't look back, leaving the foster house for good._

-0-

_By age eighteen, Uchiha Sasuke exudes confidence and street wits that most people won't find in males of his years. He stands, walks, talks and acts securely with what he was. And by this time, he had precisely understood the lives of Kakashi, Yamato, and Jiraiya, whom he followed and created his own path from._

_He now settles in the busy Tokyo City and wasn't able to finish school at all. He was underage when he first got the taste of labor, and he was good at keeping himself free of hunger in all those years. He was capable of doing different jobs and was good with adjusting to different environments. But he likes the city the most. He enjoys it as any other young men and he finds himself amused in all the things it could offer. _

_He had found friends and most of them were like him. He picks up things easily, and it didn't take long for him to understand that Kakashi, Yamato, and Jiraiya works as escorts. They traveled from places to places to carry out escort services for a number of, mostly, women clientele who sought their companies. They were good at keeping them entertained, pleasuring them or just simply giving them their presences to make them feel secured. And Sasuke saw they were gaining a good amount of money from it._

_If there was something truly helpful that came out of it, it was that Sasuke saw more of the world beyond and learned to cope with what he was lacking. He learned to strengthen his fighting skills from them and understood what to avoid. Apparently, there were cases when their services would get busted by cops or lovers of women they cater to and they would end up having a mess or brawls somewhere, whether on the streets, parking lots or bedrooms, and they had learned how to defend themselves and how to escape in due course. The three of them all grew up in the streets and this taught them how to survive. They taught Sasuke what they know, one by one, and he soon realized it was taboo. And it wouldn't take long before this environment would engulf him whole as he gets older._

_One day he was out to do his shifts in Jiraiya's newly established shop, which he was able to saved and built from his, well, man-whoring days when he was younger. People visiting the establishment likes seeing Sasuke and his attractive appearance there, and wouldn't care if he was too young to be there. After all, the shop wasn't entirely wholesome once you get to know it._

_Sasuke was walking casually down the street. His jet black hair had grown and he had them angled like spikes at the back of his head. His features had grown mature and he had gotten taller and toned over the years. It wouldn't take long and he'd be gaining more responsibilities, which the older guys at work would tease boys in his age with._

_He was wearing a white blouse, which was actually a part of a school uniform lent by one of his friends since he left his shirt in someone else's room he visited the night before, on top of a pair of jeans and sneakers. He was planning to buy a shirt on his way to work._

_He lit a cigarette as he walked down the street, several cars passing him by. He was crossing another road when he heard a woman's cry from afar._

"_Take your hands off! I told you, I don't want to see my husband!" A woman with dark red, wavy hair was yelling at four husky men in black suits wearing sunglasses._

_Sasuke stopped to look. The woman was wearing a crimson, collared dress which top button was open, revealing a lumpy cleavage. She was trying to move away as two of the men in suits stopped her. They looked like a bunch of bodyguards. There was a black limousine beside them and one of the car door was opened._

"_Didn't you hear what I said? I don't want to see my husband! Go back to him and tell him to shove his thousand-dollar dinner on his face!" The woman shouted, slapping her brown hand bag at one of the bodyguards._

"_Ma'am, he ordered us to fetch you and we will do as what we were told." One of the men said gruffly, pulling her back to the car._

_The men in black suits started to take hold of her feet to carry her inside the car when she still hesitated. She began screaming out loud and wiggling furiously._

"_Let go of me!" She cried._

_Sasuke approached._

_"Don't you think it's rude to force someone to do something against her will?" he spoke from the side._

_They stopped and turned to him. _

"_Mind your own business, smart-ass." One of them barked._

"_Help me!" The woman cried as they tried to shove her inside the limousine._

_Sasuke flicked his cigarette away and grabbed the muscular arm of one of the men. The bodyguard was provoked and he immediately braced his other arm to knock him. Sasuke dodged it and hit him on the throat, causing him to cough hard. _

"_You nosy, little prick—" The other released his hold on the woman and lunged at him. _

_They tumbled on the ground and he clasped his thick fingers around Sasuke's neck. Sasuke kicked him on the gut and pushed him to the side and got up. One of the bodyguards pulled out a stun gun from his coat and aimed at him. Sasuke grabbed his hand and pointed it to his comrade, which shot him on the chest and stunned him, releasing the woman completely and falling to the ground, squirming in pain._

_The shooter looked shock for a second and Sasuke threw a punch under his jaw, causing him to stagger backward and colliding his back with the car. He felt pain stung his hand after striking his hard face. All four men were down on the ground, and Sasuke knew they'd be back up easily._

_The woman, who just watched him with round eyes, stood a few feet away with her rose red lips left half an inch open._

"_You should be running off now, Miss." Sasuke panted._

_But she didn't move. She bent down and picked up the stun gun that fell on the ground, exposing her flawless, shapely thighs under her short skirt. She aimed and fired it to the two of the suited men who were getting back up on their feet._

_She and Sasuke remained standing there on the street for a moment._

_She looked from them to Sasuke with wide brown eyes, looking rather euphoric of what just happened. Everything was done in just a mere minute. The corner of her luscious lips pulled up in a small, thrilled smile. She was an attractive and sexy woman, Sasuke saw. Perhaps in her early thirties. She has a bulging bust line and buttocks that would fit heavily against a man's palms. She was curvy. And she was heaving slightly, as if the whole scene was taking her breath away._

"_Arigatou." She said to him in a whole feminine voice. Her golden brown eyes with long lashes stared at him. She looked at him from head to foot, being drawn to him slowly. She felt a tingle down her stomach as she stared at his boyish face. "I've never seen anyone take them down before. My husband's very possessive and he's done some hideous things. I don't want to go with them."_

"_The stun gun would be of good use for you, then." Sasuke said, placing his hands inside his pockets._

"_I can give you a reward if you want." _

"_No need." Sasuke said. He was about to walk away when she spoke again._

"_How old are you?" The woman asked and he stopped._

"_Eighteen." He replied._

"_You usually rescue damsels in distress?"_

"_Not at all." He gave a small, modest smile._

_She gazed at his handsome face and asked where he was going and what he was doing that day, all the while ignoring the knocked down men around them as if they were a bunch of props. She offered to treat him a meal and he declined yet again._

_He stood unlike any eighteen year old she had ever met at all. And there was a look of admiration and lust in her eyes but she kept herself composed. She regarded him with a sense of stimulation and she fidgeted in a pleasing discomfort under his stare._

"_Then, come with me." She said in a small, breezy voice and Sasuke couldn't help but look at her plump, red lips as she spoke. "Spend the afternoon with me."_

_Sasuke knew what she meant. It was an invitation._

_It wasn't the first time a female had been straight forward to him, but it was the first time he heard it from a woman over a decade older than him. And he didn't mind. She was aggressive, pretty, and tempting._

_With that, she turned around and walked down the street, leaving the black car and the men in suits on the ground. She glided in a seductive way, angling her buttocks left and right every time she strode. She clearly wanted to be followed, and Sasuke did._

_He had never been with a woman several years older than him before. And she was gladly willing to let him physically experiment and feel something he wasn't yet too aware was possible in positions he didn't very much thought of. She liked what he made her felt and she moaned loudly all throughout the time. And when Sasuke left, she slid a check inside his previously discarded jeans. Sasuke didn't see it until he came home to take a shower. _

_The amount was high and he had never been paid for pleasing a woman before, even if his older friends do it for work. He would do it because he didn't mind screwing someone or just because he wanted to. And he haven't gotten such amount like it in his other daily works._

_He never knew the woman's name nor did he ever saw her again. He never expected to. It was just a fling and they both had a steamy, thrilling time. He had a feeling she just needed to get pounded hard by somebody strong and hot blooded, and perhaps wasn't her husband._

_And that was what sealed his crooked path…_

_That year, what littlest of innocence was left of Uchiha Sasuke was entirely lost forever._

-0-


	2. Chapter 1

-0-

**Chapter 1**

-0-

_Present day Tokyo, Japan_

Yamanaka Ino tied the mint green lace in a bow around the last bouquet of pink roses on the table. She held it carefully and took another bouquet before marching out of the door and towards a white mini-van parked near the sidewalk in front of the shop. She yanked and slid the middle door open and positioned them orderly on the empty gray seat before heading back inside the boutique.

"How can that lunatic be sick today? Look at the weather. It's scorching I feel like my pretty face is melting." She fumed out, lifting and dragging two heavy flower stands from the shop towards the van.

She took off her light yellow apron and tossed it on the counter when she got back inside, beads of sweat started forming on her forehead. Hyuuga Hinata, her assistant and long time friend, stepped beside her and handed her the list of delivery address she had been compiling after arranging the last sets of flowers to be delivered that day. She had long, dark brown hair, light gray eyes, pale skin, and was a few inches shorter than her in height. She was wearing the same apron with the shop logo printed across the chest.

"Ebisu-san said he was food poisoned last night and can't really make it today." Hinata said timidly, clasping her hands together as she watched Ino read the list.

"Food poison my ass. He eats too much it's gluttony, that's what it is." Ino grumbled as her eyes scanned the notes, one of her hands rested on her hip. "Five clients today. Some residential houses, art gallery, commercial office… and that number five guy's ordered again, eh?"

"He's one of our regulars, though he never comes by and just orders online." Hinata recited her words like an obedient secretary.

"Well, it's either he's one hell of a sweet, mysterious casanova or a highly creepy stalker if you ask me." Ino said, folding the list and sliding it inside her pockets. She strode back to the door. "Anyway, I'll be back by lunch time, Hinata-chan. For the mean time, keep an eye on the shop, okay. Call me if something comes up."

She gave one wave before disappearing out the door as the shopkeepers bell tinkled above.

"Hai. Take care, Ino-chan!" Hinata gave one curt bow.

Ino stepped out of the Yamanaka Flower Shop, wearing a plain peach shirt, jeans, and a pair of brown flats. The exterior of the establishment was painted with pastel yellow and white stripes, and there where two big glass windows on each side, showing the displays of fresh flowers of different varieties. There was a wooden door at the middle with a see through glass and folded white curtain behind it, which was only being held down during closed hours.

Ino hopped on the drivers seat of old the mini-van, started the engine and drove off.

The day was just starting and she was already too occupied. The shop wasn't usually busy and sometimes there were hardly orders at all. But that day, her delivery guy, Ebisu, was absent and she was the one who'd be doing the job. She did the delivery orders sometimes, but the weather that day was too hot she didn't feel like going outside at all.

Ebisu, her delivery man who always wear round sunglasses, has been with them for years, even longer than Hinata. He was an employee of the shop during the days when it was still being run by Ino's parents. He rarely goes absent in his work and he looks after her from time to time since her parents passed away, but still, she likes cursing him every now and then. And this wouldn't surprise her two personnel at all.

Yamanaka Ino, on the other hand, was twenty-eight years old, has short blonde hair that falls right down below her ears, has blue-green eyes, fair-skinned, slim and taller than the average female in height. She was very much like a tomboy growing up. And in terms of character and mannerism… well, there were a lot of things that people could describe Ino. They'd say she was egotistic, ignorant, stubborn, impatient, un-ladylike, a slob, tyrannical… and so forth.

Truthfully, she knew she was just average looking, nothing special, yet she kept this lofty air and mountain-high ego. Perhaps it was because it helped her cope with doing things by her own.

Her family opened the flower shop when she was a child. She would regularly visit it after school, looking and playing with the petals left on the tables while they were busy arranging the others. Being an only child, she would often play alone with the blooms, creating tiny bracelets with the stems. Her parents would let her. She would give them her little works and they'd smile at her.

It was a simple and satisfying life, and she thought about being a florist when she grows up. She just didn't thought she'd be taking over the store sooner than she expected.

Her parents died in a car accident right before she graduated college, leaving her with her grandmother, Chiyo-baachan, and leaving the flower shop, the old mini-van, and their small house with a flower field alone with her. Those were the darkest days, but she didn't let her parents' efforts go to waste and she continued the tiny business, concentrating on it ever since she graduated from school.

It wasn't easy, though. It took her some time to learn how to keep the boutique going. Earning money from a flower shop was pretty much a seasonal thing, and there were a lot of low order days during times without occasions. Ino only has two people who stayed by her side through the years in the store: Hinata, her former classmate and assistant florist, and Ebisu, her father's former employee and her delivery guy. They were both good staff and they were someone whom she could trust with her life.

Ino slowed and stopped the vehicle before a pedestrian lane as a short, old woman with white hair and a walker started to cross the street. She sighed out, sat back and drummed her fingers against the steering wheel, watching the old lady move slowly in front of the car, inch by inch. She looked at her watch for a moment, then turned back to the street in front of her, seeing the lady had barely moved a foot from where she was. It was going to take old granny the whole morning to cross, and she didn't have the whole morning.

She slipped out of the mini-van, took five quick strides and lifted the old woman like a giant stuffed toy in front of her, her walker still on her grasp.

"Alright, gramps, let's get you across the street quickly, shall we?" She said impatiently.

"What? Oh—" Was all the wrinkled, elderly woman was able to say.

Ino crossed the road hurriedly, carrying the lady with her. A few bystanders saw them and stared at her oddly, as if she was some kind of a grizzly bear fetching old granny. She was a strong woman and didn't mind getting her hands dirty when needed, so she didn't exactly see anything wrong with it.

"Why, thanks, sweetpea." The woman croaked when her feet landed back on the pavement across the road, turning her head around to give a small wave.

"So long, granny." Ino was already walking back toward her vehicle when she spoke, couldn't wait to be moving, again.

"It should be illegal for old people to be crossing the street alone on a busy day." She grumbled to herself, yanking the clutch and moving the car again. She turned to another corner and fumbled for the delivery address list. She asked Hinata to sort them out by expected time of delivery stated in the order info. "Okay, and the first stop is to…" She ran a thumb on the paper. "…Asakasa area."

She checked the name of the receiver and the sender of the bouquet of flowers. She coiled her forehead after seeing the familiar name of the sender:

_From: #5_

The letters were written by Hinata based from the order forms for that day.

Whoever #5 was, he sure was a regular customer. They have a lot of female customers, but she assumed the sender was a guy because of the number of women recipients, and the receivers were mostly pretty ladies. Orders from him would go from two to eight bouquets of blooms for a number of girls per week. Sometimes multiple deliveries in one day, then followed by a long gap. She and Hinata had never seen him in the shop since he places his orders always online, and would only state the name # 5 to be put on the note as the sender. Ino hadn't seen him in any of the places she had gone to hand out the orders. She assumed he was some sort of playboy who perhaps likes to charm women, and she wondered if they knew they weren't the only ones whom he sends them to.

Oh, he was a sly one.

Ino thinks it was rather peculiar, but since he orders routinely and pays full every time, she knew she couldn't complain. If there was one thing that bothers her about it, it was his cunning way of fooling the female recipients. She has a sensitive side to this sort of thing and sometimes she couldn't keep herself compose when it comes to cheating lovers at all—like all else that irritates her like plastic people and attention-whores and bratty kids and worthless celebrity reality shows. Still, she tries to ignore and stay out of it as much as she could.

The first recipient that day was located in an office building in Asakasa, precisely at the eighteenth floor. She told the name of the recipient to the office receptionist, and after a minute, a petite girl in a black dress, whose hair with orange highlights was tied in a bun, walked out to the lobby from the nearby glass door. Her red heels clicking against the polished floor each step.

"Pakura-san?" Ino asked her when she approached.

She saw the dozen blue irises with Ino and nodded. She squeaked in delight when she handed it to her.

"Oh, how lovely." She said in a purring smile. She smelled them and blushed after seeing the tag which was slid in the laces. She put her hand on her cheek. "He knew I like flowers." She giggled.

The young female receptionist watched her with interest from the desk and leaned forward. "Is he that gorgeous guy you said you were seeing?"

Pakura giggled again. "Well, yeah, kinda."

She would've jumped in excitement if only her heels weren't twelve inches high, Ino mumbled in her head. She fought the urge to blurt out that she wasn't the only girl in the list whom the deranged guy was sending some to.

Pakura proceeded to talk with the receptionist in an animated voice as Ino bid farewell, obviously not timid to wave her flowers in front of people who were passing by the lobby. Ino tried not to snort out as she walked out of the building.

Her next stop was to a small art gallery with orders of a pair of flower stands for a party. She practically hauled them out of the van and up into the steps and was shortly out of breath when she talked to the curator. She felt like strangling Ebisu the next day when he comes back.

Her third stop was in a nursing home wherein she handed flowers to an old woman celebrating her eighty-third birthday. They were ordered by one of her grandsons. There were music outside the yard and they were dancing and clapping when she came. The celebrant's relatives were dancing around with their arms entwined together, and they grabbed Ino when she was about to leave. She pretended to dance and was clapping and singing with them loudly for a minute, before disappearing behind a bush the next and exiting the home, a slice of cake on one hand.

She looked at the address list once again when she got back to the van, and wasn't surprise at all to see the last two orders she'd be delivering were from the boy, she now labeled, number five.

The fourth stop was in a residential villa and a maid lead her to the back of the house when she appeared at the front door, looking for the recipient named Samui. There was a clear, bluish round pool at the terrace and she saw a form of a woman swimming under the water. The sun rays glimmered against the pool surface.

It turned out the woman looked like she stepped out of a men's magazine. She had straight, shoulder-length blonde hair with pale green eyes. Ino felt her own chest shrank after seeing the woman's big bust and curvy hips, wearing a wet, see-through bikini. Her skin was like porcelain against the sunshine.

When Ino gave her the bouquet, the lady named Samui only took it with delicate hands and pulled up the corner of her lips. Her long nails were done with french manicure tips . She didn't look nor ask who the sender was and placed them down on the glass table by the pool.

Ino could feel her stomach grumbling when she sat back on the drivers seat. She couldn't wait to go back to the shop and eat lunch. A slice of cake won't do the trick. She turned back to the delivery list. Now, the fifth and last address was rather familiar to her since she had delivered there before.

-0-

There were always two phones sitting on the counter near the back wall of Gamabunta's Bar and Café. One black and one red.

The black phone was usually used between 10AM to 7PM. It was used for taking inquiries about the food and drinks the shop serves, or if a customer would like to have some coffee or pastries sent to them. The bar and café also serves alcohol drinks, but these don't get available until past six in the evening.

And by that time, that's when the red phone would start ringing. Actually, the red phone receives callers 24/7, although not so often during business hours. But it does receive calls mostly by night time, even after midnight, when the establishment caters to other matters after dark or when the night life would start peering out. It was the other character and side of the cafe bar. The side when its other service becomes available. These matters weren't very much spoken out in public especially in front of authorities, and all exchanges were done under the table, except for the drinks.

And at that precise moment, during an hour when the sun was high up in the sky, the red one was ringing at the counter.

Kakashi flinched at the sound as he stirred the cup of coffee he was making. He stayed out late last night, playing poker with some of his old time buddies and he didn't like to talk much yet. He thought the red thing was ringing abnormally early that day again.

"Gam's, at your service." He tried to pull out a steady voice as he talked to the receiver and listened to the other line. "No, four and five aren't here yet. Maybe you should try calling later… Yeah, we can arrange something like that…" He talked over the phone, sipping coffee in between. "We'll have to check for a moment… As for him, I'm not yet sure what his schedule is for the week, but you can try later… Alright, bye bye, sugar."

He hung up and placed his forearms against the counter, clutching the coffee mug between his two hands and inhaling the aroma for a minute.

Kiba was serving some hot tea at the first occupied table that day. He has chocolate brown hair and chinky, beady eyes which people sometimes say makes him look wolf-like. He was wearing a white, long-sleeved blouse and black pants underneath. It was the café's uniform.

"Good morning, ladies." He smiled to the two girls sitting at one of the small round wooden tables. They were their first customers for the day and they beamed at him as he placed the cups in front of them.

Shino was shining the glasses of the pastry display counter, standing near Kakashi. He was rake thin, had messy black hair and was always wearing dark specs even inside the shop. He was wearing the same uniform as Kiba and Kakashi. He was the house baker and he'd be putting an apron shortly and head to the kitchen to create new batches of cinnamon rolls and muffins. He was the only one who could actually bake or cook something worthy to eat out of all the staff of that little bistro.

The door tinkled and swung open, and a blonde guy with sapphire-blue eyes walked in, his arms extending as he did.

"Gooood morning!" He greeted them with a broad smile, his white teeth gleaming as he crossed the room.

"You're late." Kakashi mumbled as Naruto, the blonde goofball, walked over to the counter.

"Yeah, sorry. Overslept." He said, tucking in the edges of his blouse neatly behind the counter.

"Where the hell is Sasuke, too?"

"His shift starts after lunch. Yamato re-scheduled him yesterday with Gaara and Chouji, remember?" Naruto said, replacing the filter from the coffee brewer with a new one.

"Ah, yeah…" Kakashi sipped from his cup. "Well, he's better off bartending the night away for a while, anyway. Got some callers this morning, asking for you both."

"My sched's open for tonight." Naruto said, taking out cups and saucers from the shelves. "But as for him… er, he's flexible, you know."

-0-

Across the city, in an elegantly furnished bedroom, Haruno Sakura's pink locks sprawled against the white mattress. Her rosy lips parted as she breathed heavily, gasping. Her hands clawing and moving along his sweaty back and up above his nape as their heated bodies ground together.

She always loved the feel of him inside her, filling her with every thrust. He was ramming her roughly and the bed shook and creaked with their movements. She curved her back in an arch, her creamy, bare legs parted and held up in the air as he nudged them wider and he pushed in deeper.

"Ahhh—Sasuke…" She whimpered underneath him.

He looked domineering above her, covering the light from her face. She looked up and saw his onyx eyes surveyed her for a moment, before pulling his face down and encircling his lips around one of her nipples, wetting them and sucking as his other hand squeezed and pulled the other until they felt blissfully sore. She drew her head back as he continued his thrusts and she could feel the hot feeling forming down her belly.

"You smell so good." He murmured against her soft skin, nipping them along her breasts.

He took one of her legs and held it higher above his hip. She felt his member sliding out, then hitting back in. She moaned as one of her hand held one side of his buttocks, pushing him further inside her warmth. He was making her addicted to him. Nobody could make her lose control like him. He knew exactly where to push her buttons. She didn't even know which part of the bed they where on anymore.

He was gorgeous and his body felt like it was made for her. To please her. They were both covered in sweat and the room felt steamy and heavy. The morning light peered through the tiny gaps from the white curtains and they illuminated the room with a glow. The lighting made the blush on their cheeks even more visible. And she couldn't help but think of how delicious he looked with it.

She cried again when she felt her body losing control, reaching her version of paradise. After a few more thrusts, she felt his body stiffened and he groaned on top of her, clutching the back of her thighs as he did so.

A few minutes later, he was lying on his back at the end of the bed and they were still panting.

Sakura lied sideways, supporting her weight with one elbow as she ran her dainty hand on his moist, lean chest which was moving up and down with his breathing. Her long, pink locks fell down her shoulders and along her back. Her green eyes watching him. Her bare form draped the mattress for him to see freely.

She liked him ever since the first time she saw him, and when she finally had him, she couldn't seem to get enough. She finds herself dreaming about him at night, getting wet just thinking about his touches. He was exactly her type: dark haired, tall, mysterious, handsome, edgy. Sometimes she finds it hard understanding how a beautiful man like him could be so shady and independent.

She didn't mind paying him for his services, especially if she could get what she wants. She would merely send the payments in his given bank account and sometimes he seems to forget about the transactions at all. She knew he was physically attracted to her, as what she was to him. Their bodies felt built for each other.

She was a habitual customer of his yet she didn't like thinking of him bedding another woman. He felt like a possession she couldn't entirely own. And she was used to getting anything she desires. After all, she was a successful career woman heading a media and publication firm.

Most men were intimidated by her appearance and status. She was alluring and successful, yet he appeared at ease when they first met several months ago in a celebration. They had a group of people with them and he simply bonded with her in a laid back, enigmatic vibe which caught her interest at first, and then she was soon pulled in his provocative world.

"Stay here." She said to him in a lacy voice.

Sasuke gave a tender smirk she always find irresistible of him as he lied there, barely moving.

"I have to go to work." He said softly.

"One day of absence won't mean too much." She insisted.

"Yamato's gonna lose it if I don't show up." Sasuke sat up and removed the rubber from his shaft.

The woman wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and kissed him on the neck. "But I want more of you." She whispered seductively.

"Too much is dangerous for someone like you." Sasuke said, clasping her chin between his fingers.

"You know I like danger." She teased, her hand running down his toned stomach daringly, touching his sensitive parts.

"I'm going to fuck you on the balcony next time." He said.

He gave her a quick peck on the lips before standing up and started looking for his clothes around the bedroom. It was actually a classy room, with the floors made of marble and the walls had some abstract and floral patterns. The mattress and bedsheets were also comfortable against his bare skin. But that day it was very much all tangled up, with pillows and clothes everywhere.

As for the walls, well, he wasn't sure if they were thick enough to keep their uncontrollable noises from the neighboring units.

-0-

Ino slowly drove the van down a street in Minato area, looking side to side for the street or block numbers. She had delivered there once before for the same recipient and was trying to recall the exact building. She only remembered the girl's hair was pink, resembling her name, and that the low rise establishment looked high class.

She heard her stomach churned again.

"Pork buns, roasted duck, grilled squid…" She was unawarely humming to herself.

Whenever she eats out in a fine dining restaurant or with a group of people, she tries to keep her poise even if she was starving. But when she eats alone in her house or anywhere without anybody or with only a close friend like Hinata or Ebisu, all those illusions gets shattered and she barely has any lady-like manners at all—sinking her humongous teeth on a big chicken leg or a steak with grease around her mouth.

She saw the familiar building with the correct number and hurriedly parked at the side of the street.

The building was finely made: with bright lights, clear glass walls and cream marble floors. It was a low-rise residential establishment, with six floors and a few units per level for people who could afford more than the average workers.

Ino took the shiny elevator near the lobby and arrived at the sixth and uppermost level. She stepped out and strode along the small, empty corridor while holding the roses, searching for the right unit number encrypted on the thick, wooden doors.

"Some fancy place. Celebrities must be living here." She muttered alone.

She saw the exact door number she was looking for. She stood in front of the door, raised her hand, and was about to knock when it was suddenly yanked open before her.

Ino found herself staring at an attractive boyish face. They both looked taken aback the second they saw each other from each side of the door. Blue-green eyes met a pair of dark brown ones.

He appeared to be putting on clothes as he was leaving. His white blouse was left unbuttoned and untucked, revealing a firm chest between the opening. He was wearing black pants and casual derby shoes. His jet black hair was tousled around as if he just came from bed. He was a couple of inches taller than her.

He saw the bouquet she was holding.

"Oh, hey. Is this the residence of Miss Haruno Sakura?" Ino asked.

"Well, you got the right place. But—" He turned his head to the side to take a glimpse inside the room and Ino couldn't see what he looked at. "But she's dozed off as of the moment."

"I have a delivery for her today. You mind taking it?"

He yanked the door open wider and stepped aside. "You can leave it on the desk."

She stepped inside the room and saw a sleeping form of a woman on a fluffy bed at the far corner. Pink strands of hair draped from a white duvet wrapped around her. Ino could hear her snoring the moment she entered.

The room was designed like the interior bedrooms in Paris which she saw in magazines. It also smelled of sex and some female fragrance. Ino tried to ignore it as she placed the bouquet on the glass dining table. Good thing she wasn't there yet during the verge of their escapade. That would've been awkward.

The guy was waiting for her outside when she moved back out. He locked the knob on the other side of the door and pulled it closed, leaving the slumbering woman in the room.

They both took the elevator to the lobby without saying a word. Ino stole a few glances of his face on their way down. He was sinfully good looking, she thought. He has a straight nose and deep set of eyes. It didn't mean she was attracted, though. She just likes looking at lovely people sometimes. And besides, her heart and attention had been reserved for quite some time now.

He was facing the lift door so she could only see his side profile. She hasn't seen anyone that perfect at a close range. He noticed her staring at him and his eyeball rolled toward her in sideways, looking at her without moving his head. Ino quickly turned away and gawked blankly at the glazed wall as she felt the elevator moved to a stop.

"Have a nice day, Ma'am, Sir." The receptionist at the lobby bowed to them as they both strode out of the entry.

They got separated when they turned to opposite ways on the sidewalks. Ino slid back inside the mini-van and started the engine. She had already turned three corners when she suddenly heard a thick rubber exploding and felt the vehicle shook. She hastily pulled over and checked the side mirror, seeing the busted tire of one of the back wheels.

"Ohh—not today. Not today!" She exhaled noisily. She turned on the hazard lights, pushed the door open and got out. "And this just have to happen when I'm the one using the stupid van!" She hissed, not caring if anyone would hear her.

_Stupid, yes, but you still value it_. She thought angrily.

There was a sharp stone stuck against the black rubber, and it tore the surface, creating a four-inch gash. The air was gushing out fast and the tire was starting to look deformed.

She was going to die of hunger under the hot sun and the vultures were going to come and eat her rotting, skinny flesh.

Ino pulled the back door of the vehicle open and drew out the orange toolbox and the rusty jack from under the last seat. Then, she hauled the replacement tire Ebisu keeps ready next to where the toolbox was. It wasn't the first time she was going to change a ruptured tire. She had done it before.

She kneeled against the ground at the side of the road, several cars passing her by. She positioned the jack under the frame near the flat tire and started to raise it until it supported the the vehicle enough. She took a wrench out of the toolbox and began losing the lug nuts on the wheel. They were fastened tightly and she turned it forcefully to loosen. She could feel her neck and back started to dampen from the labor.

"Shouldn't you be letting some bloke do that?"

Ino held the wrench stiffly and turned around, looking up.

The appealing guy she saw back in the building stood above her at the sidewalk, watching her with a puzzled look. The sun was blinding and she squinted. She noticed they were in front of some book shop.

"Oh, it's you." She said, turning back to the wheel. "Nah, I've done this before."

He moved beside her and rolled the sleeves of his blouse up to his elbows. "I'll do it."

She gazed at him for a moment and his piercing eyes met hers once again.

"All right." She said in pursed lips.

She handed him the wrench and stood back, letting him take the place where she was.

She wiped the sweat off her face. She must probably looked stinky at that point, yet she reminded herself the sweat might make her look sexy or something, the hopeless smug that she was. She crossed her arms as she watched him unfastened the nuts. He pumped the jack to lift the ripped tire higher off the ground, then fully detached the clasps off the wheel.

As Ino stood there, she noticed a tramway station several blocks away down the street where she stood.

"On the way to the tram?" She asked, couldn't keep herself still as she waited, doing nothing.

"Yeah." His back turned to her.

"Aren't you a little late for work?" She looked down her watch.

"I work in shifts."

It was a fine sight, seeing a beautiful man like him doing the work for a change since she did things mostly herself. Nevertheless, Ino yawned and thought about what she'd be still doing that day when she gets back to the shop.

She thought about the blooms and if they would still have enough fresh ones for tomorrow. She tried to remember the flowers that were left and still available. She still had some red roses and lilies. She'd have to order a bucket of tulips soon before they run out. She actually had some chrysanthemums left, which she had expected to be sold out by the end of the day. It was the type of flower which was usually sent to that Sakura girl, as what she used to see on the order forms. But that day the order was for pink roses for her, instead. And she had to look for another supplier outside the city just to get them since she only had red ones. She makes it certain the customers would get their requested orders from their list as much as possible even if the weather sometimes makes it hard for them to predict the availability.

"Why so serious?" The raven-haired guy asked as he saw her unmoving face. He rolled the new tire along the ground and lifted it in place of the busted one.

Ino looked up at him, her arms still crossed. She wasn't actually too shy when it comes to talking to people she didn't really know. She had met different types of people when she had begun running the shop, anyway, ranging from little kids to retired ones.

"I was just thinking about some stocks, and the flowers your friend received today." She said. She was actually going to say 'your girlfriend', but thought about being safe. Her arms still crossed in front of her chest. "She usually gets chrysanths but the order today was different."

The guy fastened the lug nuts back easily. "Yeah, I didn't know she was allergic to pollens before. So I switched it to something else more mellow."

Ino blinked. "Wha—Ohh. So you ordered it?" He didn't really say anything about it when she was there to deliver. "You didn't react in any way when I handed it out."

She couldn't see his expression since his back was turned to her.

Then she paused, blinked dumbly again, and opened her mouth. "You're number five?"

He unexpectedly laughed as he lowered the van using the jack, kneeling on the warm road. "You make it sound like it's some sort of a legend."

Ino observed his features, from his spiky hair to his comfy shoes. Of course, only a guy this good looking could pull off such stunts— charming girls, brightening their day with some fresh flowers on given days, fooling them eventually. Not only he has a well carved face, but his body was something any female would love to touch.

And at that moment, Ino felt bothered by his presence.

He handed her back the wrench, done with the job. She took it, eyeing him in a bizarre manner, as if trying to understand him by just studying his profile and actions.

"Thanks." She said, her voice turning thick out of the blue. He moved back to the sidewalk and she turned her head to him. "You're a regular customer of the shop. I see your orders there."

He nodded. "I didn't assume you'd notice. I saw that dude with shades a couple of times delivering them. On the other hand, you seem to be a fresh face."

"I don't do the deliveries often."

Ino moved to the back of the van and put in the toolbox and the jack. The guy grabbed the flattened tire and helped her plopped it underneath the seat. He was still adjusting it properly beside her and she scanned him for a brief moment before she spoke.

"I've always wanted to ask you one thing, though." She said in a snooty tone, extending her arm against the side of the van. "How can you date all those girls at once?"

He turned to her, getting a bit distracted from what he was doing.

"I mean, how can you fool them like that? I've delivered _three _orders from you for _three _different women in just _one_ day." She continued, her tone unanticipatedly rising and the words escaping out of her mouth. They were something she had always thought about ever since the first time she noticed the orders. And this had always made her a little disconcerted. She placed her arms against her hips, oblivious that it was making her look like an old school principal. "Don't you think you're being sweetly cruel? I mean, of course, we're pleased for the amount of orders you get from us, but still—you can't just juggle all of them at the same time like pet puppies, especially if they're unaware of your little tactics. You're going to squash their feelings eventually if you keep this up."

He didn't react. He let her talked all the way as he passively finished placing the things securely at the back of the vehicle. She was starting to remind him of a stubborn, nagging mother hen clucking continuously.

"I know I should be sticking my nose to my own business, but as a woman voicing out a perhaps common thought of some other women, too… you can't just date and fool girls that way, sweetheart." She said in a sarcastically tender voice, suddenly uptight the next minute.

He stepped back and shut the back door closed. He faced her collectedly.

"Well, aren't you a judgmental old babe. I'm not dating any of them, sweetheart." He gave her the same mocking tone, his dark eyes staring straight at her, unfaltering. One could easily be drowned in the depths of his pupils, she saw. "I'm just sleeping with them."

Her face turned confused. "What?"

He stepped closer to her, then. Their noses almost touching. Ino felt a sudden blood rush surged through her as she saw him that close.

"You heard me." He said in a low voice. "I sleep with some. And as for the rest, they merely ask for company."

Her eyebrows wrinkled, as if she had just heard the most ridiculous thing. "Is that some kind of a habit?"

"I work two jobs, and one of it belongs in the escort service, love." He said in a subtle voice. "I do it for a living. There's a difference."

Ino tried to let the words sink in her head. He chuckled for a moment after seeing the oafish look on her face. He was about to turn around, but stopped. Instead, he fumbled for something in his pocket, then slid it out and handed it to her between two fingers.

"Look, if you're really curious or just got some hell of inquiries or comments- like what you're doing right now- you can just drop by here."

Ino took it rather hesitantly. Her face was now in a frown. "What is _this_?"

"You can find me there." He said with a shrug, moving away and back to the sidewalk. He gave her one last amused look. "If you find it insulting, you can just tear it and throw it away. And by the way, a simple thanks won't hurt."

In a minute, Ino was left standing there at the side of the street alone, next to the back of the mini-van. She only watched his figure disappeared down the streets.

He was an oddball, that guy. She thought. Little did she know that he was actually thinking the same thing towards her.

She looked down at the piece he gave her, her face still held that discomforted expression as if she was constipated. It was a charcoal colored business card. The first letters at the center were written in orange with simple thick fonts, and it read:

_Gamabunta's Bar & Cafe_

-0-


End file.
